ENVS 4432 Assignment 6

Github user name: SophieKent-Purcell

A Summary of: Landscape connectivity for bobcat (Lynx rufus) and lynx (Lynx canadensis) in the Northeastern United States

Farrell, L. E., Levy, D. M., Donovan, T., Mickey, R., Howard, A., Vashon, J., Freeman, M., Royar, K., & Kilpatrick, C. W. (2018). Landscape connectivity for bobcat (Lynx rufus) and lynx (Lynx canadensis) in the Northeastern United States. PLoS ONE, 13(3), e0194243. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194243

Introduction

Habitat fragmentation has been increasing across the Northern United States due to human expansion. This is problematic for wildlife species such as bobcat (Lynx rufus) and lynx (Lynx canadensis), which require large amount of connected habitat for their seasonal shifts in habitat and for long term gene flow within metapopulations. Creating conservation strategies to ensure species have adequate connected habitat is challenging because different species like bobcat and lynx have largely different habitat requirements and different spatial scale for these requirements. An additional challenge is presented by the fact that in many areas, the suitability and connectivity of habitat for many species is unknown. GPS tracking is one way to identify what conditions are required for suitable habitat. This information can then be used to model how core habitat areas are connected. Such models are lacking for both lynx and bobcat in the Northeast United States. This study aims to connectivity models for lynx and bobcat across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine based on habitat suitability requirements determined through GPS tracking and a Partitioned Mahalanobis Distance Squared analysis (D²).

Methods

Regional area of analyses

Results and Conclusion